Following an initial pilot project, Sabien Technology’s M2G intelligent boiler load optimisation technology has been rolled out across the Norwich Union estate.
When Norwich Union (part of AVIVA) set itself a target of reducing gas consumption by 5% in 2008, one of the key areas the company looked at was the performance of its boiler plant.
“As part of AVIVA’s CSR policy we are committed to sustainability and one element of this is to focus on our use of resources,” explained Norwich Union’s energy & utilities manager Gregory Luxford. “A number of technologies that claim to improve boiler efficiency were investigated and, following a pilot trial, Sabien’s M2G was selected for installation across Norwich Union’s UK estate.
The pilot, managed by Sabien, was carried out on three sites, for 30 days on each. During this time gas consumption and associated carbon emissions were reduced by between 14% and 17%, with an average of 15% across the three sites. The average payback was only 50 weeks, with annual CO2 savings of 76 tonnes.
The M2G works by minimising boiler dry cycling, where the boiler fires to compensate for standing losses rather than contributing to the building’s heating load. Crucially, M2G automatically references the thermostat set points to ensure that room and hot water temperatures are unaffected during operation and that there is no compromise to the buildings’ comfort levels.
As the pilot was carried out during the colder months of the year, when boilers were operating at high capacity, Norwich Union expects to achieve even higher proportionate savings during periods of higher ambient temperature when the boilers will be subject to increased dry cycling.
Given the scale of the Norwich Union estate, Sabien’s ability to manage this £188,000 project, covering an area from the North of Scotland to the South West of England, was a key criterion. “In a project of this nature a good working relationship is vital. We found Sabien to be very responsive and very practical in their approach and this was a major contributor to the smooth delivery of the project,” Gregory Luxford concluded.
Sabien Technology Ltd
34 Clarendon Road, Watford, Herts, WD17 1JJ
Tel: 0800 082 89 89
Email: reduceC02@sabien-tech.co.uk